A recent Spanish Windtorte left me with a lot of yolks. “Lemon curd” was my first thought, but then my friend David from Spiced suggested ice cream – lemon curd ice cream. You’re on, David! 

Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Lemon Curd Ice Cream is (fun to say, and) a perfect balance of sweet, tart, and tangy. The vanilla custard lends a great depth of flavor to the lemon curd. The finished ice cream yields easily to a scoop even after 24 hours in the freezer, and you won’t believe how creamy it is. 

What you need for 4 cups: 

1½ cups heavy cream 
1 cup buttermilk 
7 Tbs sugar, divided 
1 Tbs corn syrup 
Pinch of kosher salt 
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise 
5-6 large egg yolks 
1 cup homemade lemon curd 
 

How to do it: 

1. Combine cream, milk, ¼-cup of the sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add pod. Bring mixture just to a simmer over medium heat. (Expect that to take a total of about 12 minutes: stirring constantly at first to dissolve the sugar, then stirring occasionally, and finally stirring constantly again as you pass the 8-minute mark to prevent scorching.) Off heat. Cover; steep for 30 minutes. 
2. Whisk egg yolks and remaining 3 Tbs sugar until pale, about 2 minutes on highest speed. Gradually whisk in warm cream mixture, on speed 4 (of 10). Pour mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat a wooden spoon (170-180°F), about 4 minutes.
3. Strain custard into a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight. 
4. Twenty minutes prior to churning, transfer the custard to the freezer. Then, process custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions (which for me means 30 minutes in a Cuisinart).  
5. As soon as you reach the end of the churning time, stop the machine temporarily. Lift off the lid and pull out the mixing arm. Add the curd to the freezer bowl in four dollops evenly spaced around the bowl. Replace the arm and cover, and churn until the curd is just barely and roughly incorporated, no more than 5-10 seconds. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and freeze for at least an hour.  

Notes: 

Can you substitute whole milk for the buttermilk? I’d be surprised if you couldn’t, though I haven’t tried. You’ll lose the tanginess, of course.  

After several days in the freezer, the ice cream will eventually become as hard as store-bought. I’ll need a short stint in the fridge or countertop if you don’t want to struggle to scoop it.

A Short Survey of Vanilla Ice Creams: 

In doing research for this post, I compared four vanilla ice cream recipes: Alton Brown, Bon Appétit, Food 52, and Martha Stewart. All of them call for heavy cream, of course. However, Food 52 calls for nothing but cream, while the others call for a mixture of cream and either milk or half-and-half. All call for two yolks per cup of cream/milk, except for Martha, who calls for slightly less. When it comes to sugar, there’s quite a wide range: anywhere from 2 Tbs per cup of cream/milk, to 3.2 Tbs, 3.5 Tbs, or 4 Tbs.  

Only Bon Appétit calls for a single source of vanilla. The others call for extract in addition to vanilla sugar or vanilla bean. The amounts vary from as little extract as 0.25 tsp per cup of cream/milk, to a full teaspoon, and anywhere from 0.2 to 0.5 of a vanilla bean per cup of cream/milk.  

The Food 52 recipe calls for the addition of nonfat milk powder, and then goes on to call for golden syrup – which isn’t widely available in the US – in an apparent effort to comply with what I believe to be a Food 52 requirement for appallingly esoteric recipes. The recipe’s author, Alice Medrich, claims that these two ingredients increase the ice cream’s voluptuousness and creaminess. But can you trust a chocolate expert for advice on vanilla ice cream?

Variation: 

I found the following idea at Bon Appétit. I suspect it would work well as a replacement for the lemon curd in this recipe, although I haven’t tried it yet.   

Cherry-Bourbon Ice Cream 

Cook 1½ cups halved, pitted, sour cherries, 2 Tbs sugar, and 1 Tbs water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until syrupy, 8–10 minutes. Off heat. Stir in 1 Tbs bourbon; let cool. Process custard and fold in cherry mixture just before transferring to freezer. 

Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Lemon Curd Ice Cream

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Thank you, Kesor. 

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